Portsmouth Review of the Year 2022: February saw the city battered by Storm Eunice - and witnessed the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Storm Eunice saw winds of more than 50mph warrant a rare red alert warning from the Met Office.

Dramatic footage showed Brittany Ferries ship braving choppy waves in the Solent, while schools were advised to shut, and attractions from the Historic Dockyard to Marwell Zoo turned away visitors.

After a previous two years of pandemic pain that had been largely banished by vaccines, the start of 2022 saw lighter stories catch residents’ attention.

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More than 142,000 people on Facebook watched a ‘gender reveal’ party outside The Spice Island Inn in Old Portsmouth – with the 560ft Spinnaker Tower flashing blue to reveal the couple were expecting a boy.

Or were they? As the landmark abruptly switched to pink lighting, couple Chloe Brooks and Harry Day were left in the dark about what to expect.

Spinnaker Tower’s management apologised for the confusion and offered a refund to the Copnor pair – who were looking forward to welcoming a baby daughter to their family.

Another surprising performance was the talk of the city when a staging of We Will Rock You at the Kings Theatre received a special guest appearance.

Audience members erupted with applause as Queen legend Brian May took to the stage and performed the guitar solo from Bohemian Rhapsody.

A lucky audience member at the Albert Road venue summed up the reaction of many: ‘I am honestly speechless. I can’t believe that just happened.’

But for some families around Portsmouth, February meant coming to terms with loss that had sparked public outpourings of grief.

As flowers and floral tributes lined a railing near Gunwharf Quays, an inquest was opened into the death of Gosport teen Elin Martin who was involved in a collision with a bus near the shopping centre at the end of January.

The family would have to wait six months until the inquest revealed the full details how the 18-year-old’s night out with friends came to its ‘desperately tragic’ end.

Meanwhile, the month marked another inquest’s ending, as a coroner reached a verdict on the death of Dylane Shaw, who had died in November 2020.

The 53-year-old - who died in a fire at Cosham petrol station after years of suffering with ‘severe’ mental health problems – had meant to take her own life, the coroner ruled.

Known to her friends as Dee, the resident of Sixth Avenue was described by family members as ‘caring’, ‘kind’, and ‘creative’.

The deputy police and crime commissioner for Hampshire quit after a public outcry over his comments about gender equality.

Luke Stubbs controversially claimed that equality goals ‘only benefit women and minorities’ during a fire service meeting in December.

Despite apologising for his remarks Mr Stubbs was held to be in breach of his £65,025-a-year contract by a complaints panel.

As the month drew to a close, the eyes of the world were drawn to Eastern Europe, as Vladimir Putin began his brutal and bloody invasion of Ukraine.

The invasion reignited long-dormant anxieties about nuclear war during the Cold War, which had seen Portsmouth named as a likely target of an nuke.

Cold War predictions drawn up in secret by the British government revealed the extent of a Russian nuclear strike on the UK, with Portsmouth's Naval Base on the list of target.

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A war separated from the city by half a continent would go on to have profound implications for The News’s readers, who would face massive energy bills – and welcome hundreds of refugees to homes across Hampshire.

Andrii Zharikov, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth’s law faculty, was just one of thousands of Ukrainian expats worried sick after waking on February 24 to the news that his home city of Kyiv had been invaded by Russia.

‘I had a message from my mother that war was starting and their windows were shaking from explosions, he said. ‘These explosions were not far from where they live. I am asking them to be in touch with me every hour to let me know they are safe.’